County prepares for no-smoking law

Complying with the state's new smoking ban, which takes effect July 1, could prove both cumbersome and costly for local municipalities and businesses. The law, which bans smoking in public, requires signs be posted at all entrances to businesses and public buildings. Smoking is prohibited within eight feet of those structures and the signage must carry specific wording, county attorney Tom Scifres told the board of commissioners at their meeting Tuesday.

 The county will be required to post those no smoking signs at the courthouse, county government building, highway department, detention center, the Anson Street building and the fairgrounds. The latter alone will require numerous signs since there are so many buildings at the fairgrounds, most with several entrances. The state legislature passed the no-smoking law during its last session, but provided some big exceptions. One being the casino industry and another being bars and taverns (except bars inside a business such as a bowling alley, where smoking will be banned). Hoosiers may also continue to smoke in private clubs, such as American Legion or VFW halls.

However, smoking must be confined to designated rooms with separate ventilation systems. The law also requires the removal of all ash trays from places were smoking is banned and states that employers are required to ask a person smoking in a public place to refrain from doing so and to remove any person who fails to stop smoking. A person who smokes in a non-smoking area commits a Class B infraction and a Class A infraction if they have at least three prior violations. An employer that fails to comply with its obligations also commits a Class B infraction, unless the employer has committed at least three prior violations, in which case it is a Class A infraction.

The penalty for a Class B infraction is a fine of up to $1,000 and up to $10,000 for a Class A infraction. There are no "smoking police" per se, nor any funding for enforcement. The Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission is responsible for enforcing the law, which has been widely criticized due to the many exemptions, confusing regulations and for being unfair. Indiana became the 40th state to ban smoking in most or all public places when Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law March 19.